Who invented Daylight Saving Time?
Why Daylight Saving Time Still Exists
C1 English listening practice · British English · Picked for people who know a lot
Modern Daylight Saving Time was proposed by William Willett, an English builder, in a 1907 self-published pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight. Willett was a passionate golfer in Petts Wood, Kent, and he hated finishing his evening rounds in fading light. He argued British clocks should jump forward in spring to give an extra hour of evening daylight in summer. He died in March 1915, one year before Britain finally adopted British Summer Time in May 1916. A small piece of trivia: Willett was the great-great-grandfather of Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
In this clip, a British presenter explains the Willett story while mock-complaining about the entitlement of “a freemason called William Willett who loved playing golf.”
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In British history podcasts (The Rest Is History, In Our Time)
- ▸In British news features about clock changes every March and October
- ▸In British golf-club content about Petts Wood and Kent
- ▸In British school history lessons about wartime measures
- ▸In British comedy about pointless traditions (QI, 8 Out of 10 Cats)